While the prospect of the looming US presidential election being anything other than a rematch is remote, and any discussion to the contrary a defeatist fantasy, I can’t help but read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s recent essay in the Wall Street Journal, about LBJ and his legacy (i.e. decision not to run again), in a cheeky “I’ll just leave this here” tone:

One newspaper editorial after another applauded the president’s renunciation. interpreting it as “a magnificent display of patriotism,” “putting principle above personal ambition,” “a stirring, galvanic example of answering JFK’s question: ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” and “his most stunning move in a 37-year career in politics.”